Black-ish Recap: The Dozens

“Black-ish” Season 1 Episode 15 “The Dozens” aired last Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, at 9:30 p.m. on ABC. Dre teaches his son how to talk smack at a bully, while Bow deals with sleepless nights with the younger kids. Find out what happened in this episode in the recap below.

Dre (Anthony Anderson) likes driving his kids to school as he takes this time to eavesdrop on their conversations. Some stuff he lets go and sets aside. It was like when Junior tells his friend he just took money from his dad’s wallet. But when he hears Junior (Marcus Scribner) talking about a guy named Cody bullying him, Dre speaks out and asks questions. The kids tell him that Cody is from Boston, the original home of the white bully, so Dre teaches his son some defensive moves.

At work, Dre discusses his problem with his co-workers and they share bully stories. Charlie (Deon Cole) advises him to teach Junior how to play “the dozens.” It is the African-American tradition of talking trash such as those famous yo mamma jokes. It’s the black man’s way of finding the comedy in pain. Charlie and Dre demonstrate how this is done to Josh (Jeff Meacham), who does not get how words can actually work against bullies because he’s white.

Back at home, Dre gives his son tips on how to bag the bullies and talk smack at them by playing the dozens. The young boy is not confident he can pull this off. He knows he’s not funny. Dre encourages him to say a few insults and realizes they have a lot to work with.

Meanwhile, Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) is leaving for work at the hospital. The younger kids are asking if she can stay for a few minutes to read them a story. They proudly tell her that they don’t sleep with the night light on anymore. Bow wells up realizing that her babies are growing up. When she returns from work, however, she finds Diane (Marsai Martin) in the living room and she refuses to turn the light off. She denies about being scared of the dark. She’s acting really paranoid and sleeps in her parents’ bed. Except, Diane cannot sleep and wakes up Dre and Bow.

The next morning, the kids learn that Cody got suspended, which is a relief for Junior. However, Zoey (Yara Shahidi) also learns that Cody isn’t the only one bullying her brother. She tells him that they’re not the problem, Junior is. He’s got to stand up for himself.

Junior takes this chance to do what his father told him and quickly comes up with an insult towards one of the bullies. A crowd gathers around them and he’s actually winning. The bully walks away embarrassed at being ridiculed.

This went on and on with the other bullies, until Junior earns a reputation that Dre gets a call from the principal’s office. He tells Bow and Dre about Junior’s aggressive behavior. The boy is getting detention. But Bow is so tired and exhausted, she hardly understands what’s going on. Dre, on the other hand, is pleased his son has learned to bag.

The principal reminds them that Junior has been bullying. Seriously? Dre wonders what the principal did when his own son was actually bullied. He’s only defending himself without violence.

Back at home, Bow deals with Diane’s paranoia or else she won’t be able to sleep again. She tells her daughter that there isn’t any reason for her to be afraid in their own house. Meanwhile, Jack (Miles Brown) is gloating at his twin sister. She was always the first one to do everything, and everyone thinks she’s clever. Now? Jack has the edge. He’s not afraid of the dark.

Junior overhears his younger brother. He shows him how to talk smack at Diane and even their own mother. Yep, he’s really pushing this too far. Bow has no energy to get mad at the kids. She really needs her sleep. However, in the bedroom, she tells her husband in a grumpy way that he needs to fix Junior.

Dre tells Junior that he’s really proud of him, but he’s gone too far. He needs to slow down and only do the dozens to defend himself on people who can handle getting dissed. Otherwise, if he’s attacking everyone personally, he does come off as the bully.

At school the next day, Cody is back and Junior is so ready to face him. His plan is to launch an attack by showing everyone Cody’s sad and desperate single mom is on Tinder. But instead, Junior gets attacked by his conscience and purposely bombs his smack down, disappointing the crowd that has gathered around him and Cody. But Junior’s best friend thinks this is a class act, coz he took the high road. However, Cody still hits him on the face.

That night at home, Dre says he’s proud Junior showed restraint. The young boy dishes out some funny insults one last time with his dad as the target.

Meanwhile, as Bow settles the younger kids to sleep, she learns that Diane tricked her brother into watching “The Shining.” So that night, they were going to need the night light on and the bedroom door open. But they will all be getting some sleep.

That’s the recap for “Black-ish” Season 1 Episode 15 “The Dozens” which aired last Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, at 9:30 p.m. on ABC. Come back to Movie News Guide (MNG) for more about this series.

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Rachel will watch any TV show once to see if it's worth following. She watches 55 to 60 American, British and Canadian TV shows on any regular week. Glued to TV, she has not seen the world outside in a while. :P